1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an input system for a landing flap control of an aircraft.
Larger aircraft such as passenger aircraft or transport aircraft include on their aerofoils landing flaps and movable slats which can be hydraulically moved to alter the wing profile. In a landing approach the wing profile is set to be more curved so that lift is increased and the aircraft has sufficient lift, in spite of a slow landing speed. To control the movement of the landing flaps, provided in the cockpit of the aircraft is an input system for the landing flap control having a selector lever, by way of which the pilot sets the landing flap position.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
To detect the position of the selector lever such input systems are equipped with a sensor arrangement which detects the lever position and converts it into corresponding electronic signals. They are passed to a computer which controls the movement of the landing flaps and possibly the movable slats. Various methods are known for sensor detection of the selector lever, for example the use of a potentiometer, a Hall sensor or a contactlessly operating optoelectronic unit, as is known from EP 0 429 939 A1.